I'm not a chef… but I can cook. – KEN JOHNSON | contact HBSC@yahoo.com

CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA (Indian Butter Chicken)

Serves 4

My wife is from the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia Canada. We go there at least twice a year to visit her family. There is a large East Indian population throughout the area and Indian food is very popular. One of our first stops every trip is a place simply named, Best of India. For many years the owner, Jaswinder “Jas” Sidhu and his wife, Mandeep have run this small restaurant. They are wonderful people from the Indian province of Punjab and they make the best Tikka Masala (Butter Chicken) we have had anywhere. We have been stopping by for lunch year after year and year after year I have asked Jas to teach me how to make this dish. Time and time again he has just smiled, patted me on the shoulder and said “It’s a secret recipe”… I would go home and try to make it by guessing with no success. However, this year, he actually finally said, “ok Ken… you come tomorrow and I will teach you”. My wife, Andi and I went the next day and spent the afternoon in his kitchen at the restaurant cooking and learning. He did not just hand me the recipe but I took notes the best I could and this is the result. He shared with us the purpose of each ingredient as he sees them as “medicine for the body”. Some of the spices, he believes, offer great health benefits from boosting the immune system to anti inflammatory to blood flow. Some of the ingredients were foreign to me but I found them easy to get online and worth discovering. I hope you will enjoy this cooking process and this delicious recipe! Pairs very well with a fruit forward white wine with a dry finish.